Laura Sackton is a queer book nerd and freelance writer, known on the internet for loving winter, despising summer, and going overboard with extravagant baking projects. In addition to her work at Book Riot, she reviews for BookPage and AudioFile, and writes a weekly newsletter, Books & Bakes, celebrating queer lit and tasty treats. You can catch her on Instagram shouting about the queer books she loves and sharing photos of the walks she takes in the hills of Western Mass (while listening to audiobooks, of course).
Laura Sackton is a queer book nerd and freelance writer, known on the internet for loving winter, despising summer, and going overboard with extravagant baking projects. In addition to her work at Book Riot, she reviews for BookPage and AudioFile, and writes a weekly newsletter, Books & Bakes, celebrating queer lit and tasty treats. You can catch her on Instagram shouting about the queer books she loves and sharing photos of the walks she takes in the hills of Western Mass (while listening to audiobooks, of course).
Winter and picture books: two of my very favorite things. There is nothing better, in my opinion, than curling up on a cold winter day with a huge stack of books about winter. It doesn’t matter if you’re an adult or a kid. Winter-themed picture books capture the magic of the season like nothing else can. Nonfiction about how animals survive winter, cozy stories about kids having winter fun, poems that celebrate snow, frozen ponds, and starlit nights, magical fables and riffs on traditional tales, holiday stories—I want it all. These five books are just a few of my recent favorites. Whether you’re reading with kiddos or on your own, these are the best books for reveling in all the joys that winter has to offer.
Winter Dance by Marion Dane Bauer & Richard Jones
In this playful, gorgeous, beautiful book, a red fox realizes winter is coming (because a snowflake lands on his nose), and wonders what he should do. Everyone in the forest is eager to tell him! Bats tell him to fly into a cave, hang by his toes, and go to sleep. Caterpillars tell him to make a cocoon and wait till spring! A turtle suggests diving down to the bottom of a pond to rest in the mud. To each of these suggestions, the fox replies, “that won’t do for me.” It takes the fox a while to figure out just what he should do in the winter—but it’s worth the wait. This is an utterly charming, animal-centric story about the winter forest. It has a wonderful repeating pattern that will please kids and adults alike, a sweet ending, and so many beautifully rendered winter scenes. The wonderful facial expressions of the inquisitive fox are especially delightful.
Do Like Kyla by Angela Johnson & James E. Ransome
This is a simple, beautifully told story about a little girl and her big sister, Kyla as they go about their lives one winter day. Each thing that Kyla does, the little girl also does. Together, they get up, watch the birds, eat breakfast, get dressed, walk through the snow to the store, and come home. And yet, despite this simplicity, their lives feel rich and textured. Ransome’s beautiful paintings offer windows into the lives of Kyla and her sister. The story captures this relationship so sweetly, without any fuss. The love between the sisters is glowing and strong, even though it’s never stated outright.
Tracks in the Snow by Wong Herbert Yee
It doesn’t matter how many times I read this book—and I’ve read it many, many times—it never gets old. A little girl ventures out of her house on a snowy morning, following a set of mysterious tracks in the snow. Whose could they be? Where are they leading her? If you’re a big kid (aka an adult), you’ll guess the answers to these questions on the first page, but that does not in any way diminish the winter magic that Yee creates in this contemporary classic. It’s a small book (physically small, small in scope, perfectly small) that captures some big winter joy.
Snowsong Whistling by Karen Elisa Lotz & Elisa Kleven
This is one of my all-time favorite winter picture books; I reread it every December. Lotz’s evocative poetry and Kleven’s gorgeous collages take readers on a journey through fall and into deep winter, celebrating the specific joys of these seasons: apples and pumpkins, wind and storms, pies, feasting, animals gathering, people harvesting, cookies, frozen ponds, togetherness, warmth, and, of course, snow. “Mistletoe blooming / Teakettle fuming / Father cat grooming / Storm clouds looming” reads one page. The cozy glow and sharp clarity of the illustrations capture the magic of warmth and cold, dark and light, the contrasts that make winter the most beautiful season of the year.
The Magical Snowflake by Bernette Ford & Erin K. Robinson
Snow is magic, and this book gets it! Ori and a bunch of neighborhood kids go outside to play one day in winter, even though there’s no snow on the ground. Ori looks up and sees one beautiful, magical snowflake. She follows it, beckoning the other kids to join her, and soon it begins to snow. This is a delightful book about the magic of winter, and, of course, the particular magic of snow. And it is full of truly magical illustrations! If you’ve ever stood in the middle of a snowstorm at twilight and looked up into that softly falling white, if you’ve ever watched the snow blur the trees and turn to crystal in a streetlight or the glow from a window, if you’ve ever tasted the first sharp sweetness of snow on your tongue—well, then you’ve been inside one of the beautiful, gauzy, glowing illustrations in this book.
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